A request for proposals for the construction of an underground carpark near the Mosta Dome will soon be published, Projects Malta has announced.
The project aims to create a minimum of 350 new parking spaces in Mosta and the conversion of the current carpark near the Dome into an open space.
In a press briefing, Projects Malta’s director of projects Emren John Vella said the government would be giving a 60-year concession to the carpark operator.No title to the land would be given at road level,
No title to the land would be given at road level, Mr Vella said.
The main development would take place near the Mosta Dome, while two other development zones are being offered to the operators if required.
The calls for proposals will be published in the government gazette on Tuesday.
The project has to be completed within 30 months of the Planning Authority’s go-ahead.
The 350 car spaces figure is a baseline. Points would be given to proposals that offered more spaces than this baseline.
Projects Malta’s media chief Julia Farrugia said real-time monitoring of excavation works would take place in order to prevent any damage to the Mosta Dome using vibration monitoring systems.
Ms Farrugia said the project would be abandoned if any major technical problems were identified.
She said the parking tariffs offered by the operator would have to make “social sense”.
On the controversial proposal for a kiosk near the Mosta Dome, Ms Farrugia said Projects Malta would consider filing an objection to the development as this went against the concept of offering more open spaces in the area.
The project aims to ease the traffic congestion caused by people looking for parking, Ms Farrugia said.
No excavation would take place within six metres of the dome.
Ms Farrugia said the Mosta local council supported the project.
The Church had been consulted and would be appointing a member to the technical monitoring board, which would have access to all the impact studies.
Architect Paul Borg gave an overview of a number of underground carparks near sensitive sites which have been built in other countries.
He said no endemic trees existed in the carpark area near the dome that would be embellished. The existing trees would be transplanted to other sites.
Either a ramp system or a car lift system could be used to access the underground carpark, he said.
Parking problems
Mosta has over 20,000 residents and attracted over 700,000 tourists last year.
Over 2,000 businesses employing close to 7,000 people operate in the area.
The Mosta healthcare centre saw 313,845 patients last year with more than 100 healthcare workers.
The parking area near the Mosta Dome only has 58 spaces.